The German-Oregonians, 1850-1918
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Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1983 The German-Oregonians, 1850-1918 Roberta Lee Schmalenberger Portland State University Let us know how access to this document benefits ouy . Follow this and additional works at: http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, German Language and Literature Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Schmalenberger, Roberta Lee, "The German-Oregonians, 1850-1918" (1983). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 3430. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Roberta Lee Schmalenberger for the Master of Arts in German presented June J, 1983. Title: The German-Oregonians, 1850-1918. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COMMITTEE: Louis Elteto 1 1am 1sc er Of all the foreign-born elements of Oregon's population, the German-born have been the most prominent in terms of size and continuity. At the turn of the century they were an organized and enterprising ethnic group that supported a German- language press, numerous social clubs and ethnic churches. The German-born contributed their share to the development of Oregon through men whose names are almost household words today: Meier and Frank, Weinhard, Dammasch, Villard and Weyerhaeuser. Yet for all of their visibility, the Germans in Oregon have not been remembered as a particular ethnic group. The demise of a visible German culture in the United States is commonly associated with the patriotic fever and anti-German hysteria that characterized the period of World War I. Tensions evoked by war with the German fatherland 2 undoubtedly had an impact on the German community in Oregon as well, leading to the disappearance of ethnic institutions. Consequently the question is raised regarding German-American loyalties, their assimilation or lack of it. In order to address this question, however, the identi- ty of the Germans in Oregon before the outbreak of World War I had to be assessed. This thesis, then, is a background study with the intent of identifying and describing the average German-Oregonians behind the names that stood out in business, politics and social contributions. With regard to assimilation, the self-perception of the German-born is considered. It is a generalized work that could serve as a point of reference for more specialized studies of individuals and specific com- munities, institutions, contributions and issues. It is also just one dimension of the whole issue of World War I and the German-born that should be a basis for future studies of the activities of the German-Oregonians during that period and the reception accorded them by native-born Oregonians. To a large extent this study is demographic. In order to arrive at descriptive statements, statistics regarding the German-born, native-born and foreign-born in the census reports from 1850 to 1910 were compared. Where appropriate, secondary history sources were utilized in order to relate the statisti- cal observations to the historical events of which they were a part. This method if inquiry identified the German-Oregon ians according to general trends and attitude.s. Immigrant memoirs and self-expressions added a more personal dimension 3 to the statistical observations. Generally speaking, German-Americans are thought to have been followers of the frontier, not pioneers, and to have had a preference for living among their own kind, particularly in larger cities. This thesis does not dispute these statements but illuminates a similarity between the native-born and German born whereas such theories taken alone tend to give the German born a separistic character. Only a few of the German-born were among the early pioneers, but likewise the pioneers represented just a minute portion of the entire population. The Germans in Oregon did live predominantly in Multnomah County, but the native-born resided primarily in just a slightly larger radius. There were also similarities in the waves of immigration of both population elements into Oregon as well as in occupational stratification. German immigrants of the 1900's seemed to have seen their heritage as being from the early German pioneers as well as from their homeland. Thus they were hyphenated Americans but not with the generally assumed negative connotation. They perceived themselves not as Germans in Oregon but rather as German-Oregonians with a tie to both cultures. THE GERMAN-OREGONIANS, 1850-1918 by ROBERTA LEE SCHMALENBERGER A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in GERMAN Portland State University 1983 TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH: The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Roberta Lee Schmalenberger presented June 3, 1983. Franz Louis Elteto APPROVED: Louis Elteto, Head, Department of Foreign Languages Stan le Studies and Research PREFACE Of all the foreign-born elements of Oregon's population, the German-born have been the most prominent both in terms of size and continuity. At the turn of the century, one out of every eleven Oregonians was either German-born or first gener ation German stock. They were at that time a highly visible ethnic group because of their sheer numbers and their enter prising ways. They supported a German-language press, organ ized clubs and formed churches. Yet the names of those who stood out because of their contributions--names like Meier and Frank, Weinhard, Dammasch, Villard and Weyerhaeuser--are often thought of as American as apple pie. For all of their visibility, the German-Oregonians have not been remembered as a particular ethnic group. That the Germans were so numerous and yet their contri butions to the development of Oregon have rarely been identi fied as German peaks one's curiosity to ask why. It is common knowledge that during the height of German immigration to the United States, 1850-1890, the German culture flourished in social organizations, German churches and the German-language press. It is also common knowledge that German-Americans suffered tremendous discrimination during the anti-German hysteria of the World War I years. The hysterical patriotism of that epoch is generally associated with the demise of the visible German culture. That is undoubtedly true, but the iv conclusion itself leads to more queries. Were the Germans in general so unassimilated that it took an anti-German movement to force assimilation? What were the German attitudes toward their heritage and Americanization? What were their contri butions to American society and specifically to Oregon? How did the German-Oregonians perceive themselves and what re ception was accorded them by the na~ive-born? Was the dim inishing immigrant movement itself a factor in the decreasing visibility of the German culture in Oregon? All of these queries made me keenly aware of the need to take a step backwards in history to lay a foundation, to assess the identity of the German-Oregonians before the patri otic fever of World War I. My thesis, then, is a background work with the intent of identifying and describing the average German-Oregonians behind the names that stood out in business, politics and social contributions. It is a generalized work that I would hope would serve as a point of reference for more specialized studies of individuals and specific communities, institutions, contributions and issues. To a large extent my study of the German-Oregonians is demographic. I have scrutinized, calculated and compared all of the statistics regarding the Germans in the Census Reports from 1850 to 1910. In order to arrive at descriptive statements, I then compared what the statistical records showed about the Germans with the same data regarding the foreign-born. Where appropriate I turned to secondary history sources in order to relate the statistical observations to the historical events v of which they were a pa.rt. This method of inquiry resulted in an identification of the German-Oregonians according to who, where, when and why. A description of the identity of the German-Oregonians would not be complete without considering how they perceived themselves. Wherever possible I have referred to self-expres sions. This, however, is a problematic area of study. Extant immigrant memoirs are too few and far between to suggest gen eral trends or attitudes. They are best used to add a human istic element to the statistical observations. Likewise collections of German-language newspapers that were published in Oregon contain only scattered issues, not enough to ascertain attitudes but to highlight other observations. One is left having to get to know the German-Oregonians primarily through their active rather than verbal responses. One of the most interesting and useful self-expressions is a book titled Oregon und sein Deutschtum; eine Geschichte des Staates, dessen deutscher Pioniere und ihrer Nachkommen. It was published in 1920 under the auspices of the State Association of German-speaking Societies of Oregon. It was the intent of this organization to revitalize the German cul ture in Oregon following the repercussions of the anti-German sentiment during the first World War. Because the book was written in German, its intended audience was the German-born. Apparently the German-Oregonians who authored the book felt the need to encourage t·heir countrymen to take pride in their German heritage, because the Germans had oontributed much to vi the development of Oregon. As a self-expression it voices only the opinions of the die-hard Germans, but through their viewpoint it reflects the attitudes of the less spirited Germans. As such this work is an invaluable source.